A group of Wellington entrepreneurs have joined forces to build New Zealand’s first personal cloud. Data247 is designed to provide Kiwis with an accessible and affordable online back-up service to ensure their valuable files and data remain safe.

“People think their computers, phones or tablets are reliable, but in reality, they’re not – it’s not a question of if a piece of technology fails, it’s when, and when it does all the important information stored on that device can be destroyed." says Data247 co-founder and chief executive Brett Hawthorne.

“In fact about 45 million times this year alone files will be lost forever, that’s hundreds of photos, conversations, calendars and more, gone in an instant.”

The Data247 founders have made it their mission to develop an affordable and user-friendly personal cloud that means users never need worry about the safety of their data again.

Mr Hawthorne encourages both individuals and businesses alike to seriously consider backing up their important information on whatever device it’s currently stored on via Data247.

“People should back-up once a day or more but the common excuses for not doing so include ‘I don’t have time’, ‘it’s too complicated’ and ‘it’s too expensive’.

“But when data is lost, regardless of the cause, be it a computer virus, a hardware or software problem, or other malfunction, it is typically unrecoverable,” he says.

“We increasingly trust technology to look after all the important memories in our lives, precious baby videos, financial documents, love letters, business emails and wedding photos – imagine what you’d lose if these were erased forever.”

The recent earthquakes in Christchurch and Wellington highlight the importance of backing up, says Mr Hawthorne.

“Now is the time that people should be considering how to protect their data, and Data247 provides a simple and easy way for users to ensure their valuable information isn’t lost or damaged.”

Data247 not only offers the easiest online back-up service for individuals and businesses, but also a way to securely share important items with family and friends.

Users can back-up by file type, such as photos, documents, music, videos and mail - all they need to do is identify what is important and the software will find it and back it up no matter where it is on their PC.

Most importantly, and what sets Data247 apart, is that all data never leaves New Zealand, it’s held in Orcon’s Data Centre in Auckland.